Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more

imaging

Detecting Lung Cancer at a Higher Rate

The findings from a recent study show the risk of dying from lung cancer could be reduced by 20 percent by use of a low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) scan.  With 160,000 deaths each year related to cigarette smoking, this type of screening could save up to 32,000 lives each year.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) launched the multicenter National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) in 2002,  led at Emory by radiologist and researcher Dr. Kay Vydareny.  This trial compared two ways of detecting lung cancer: low-dose helical (spiral) computed tomography (CT) and standard chest X-ray, for their effects on lung cancer death rates in a high-risk population.

Both chest X-rays and helical CT scans have been used as a means to find lung cancer early, but the effects of these screening techniques on lung cancer mortality rates had not been determined. Over a 20-month period, more than 53,000 current or former heavy smokers ages 55 to 74 joined NLST at 33 study sites across the United States. In November 2010, the initial findings from NLST were released. Participants who received low-dose helical CT scans had a 20 percent lower risk of dying from lung cancer than participants who received standard chest X-rays.

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New technology enables precision in jaw reconstruction

Steven Roser, MD

According to experts in restorative dentistry, when people have misaligned jaws where the upper and lower teeth don’t match, the functional impact ranges from articulation and speech problems to problems with eating.

When jaw reconstruction is required, the outcome must be precise but first, as suggested by the best dentist Briarwood, the patient’s jaw must be examined to decide whether this reconstruction is needed or not. Besides, it’s always beneficial to explore all available options when considering orthodontic care. A service like this provider ensures that the journey to a better smile is handled professionally and tailored to individual needs, helping patients find the right balance between discretion and effectiveness.

The way people eat and bite is a very sensitive mechanism, and teeth have to meet in a certain way in order to bite and chew correctly. You can visit sites like durhamdental.net to schedule an appointment with a dentist.

Planning the surgery is the key.

A new system being used by Emory oral and maxillofacial surgeons helps them reach a level of preoperative planning that they had not been able to achieve before.

The system takes data from the patient obtained through CT scan (Computed Tomography) and optical scanning, and puts it into a software program that has been developed to allow the surgery to be performed virtually on the computer. This preoperative planning assists in the construction of an accurate intra-operative guide.

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Biomedical engineering links Emory, Georgia Tech in medical discoveries

Larry McIntire, PhD

Despite its youth, the 20-year-old field of biomedical engineering is the fastest growing engineering academic program today. The joint Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory, with Larry McIntire as chair, has emerged on the forefront of biotechnology-related research and education.

“By integrating the fields of life sciences with engineering,” McIntire explains, “we can better understand the mechanisms of disease and develop new ways to diagnose and treat medical problems. We are working collaboratively in the fields of biomedical nanotechnology, predictive health, regenerative medicine, and health care robotics, among others.

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Discerning a prelude to Alzheimer’s

Imagine that an elderly relative has been having difficulty remembering appointments and acquaintances’ names, or even what happened yesterday. Memory problems can be signs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a prelude to Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientists believe that the outward effects of the slow damage that comes from Alzheimer’s only show up after the damage has been accumulating for years. However, memory difficulties can also be the result of stress or another health problem. Patients thought to have MCI at an initial doctor’s visit sometimes improve later.

That’s why researchers at Emory’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center have been testing noninvasive imaging approaches to distinguishing MCI from healthy aging and Alzheimer’s. Their goal is to identify individuals at risk of developing Alzheimer’s, at a time when intervention can make a difference in how the disease progresses.

“We believe that imaging technology may help us find the signature changes in brain structure that are specific to MCI,” says Felicia Goldstein, PhD, associate professor of neurology.

Color coded diffusion tensor image (DTI) of a brain section from a healthy individual (A) showed a thick and intact corpus callosum (orange color), a white matter fiber bundle connecting left and right hemisphere as illustrated in the 3D rendering of the tractograph derived from DTI (B). However, a thin and narrow corpus callosum is seen in an AD patient (C) due to the degeneration of this white matter structure

Color coded diffusion tensor image (DTI) of a brain section from a healthy individual (A) showed a thick and intact corpus callosum (orange color). However, a thin and narrow corpus callosum is seen in an AD patient (C) due to the degeneration of this white matter structure. Courtesy of Hui Mao.

Two recent papers highlight the use of diffusion tensor imaging, an advanced form of magnetic resonance imaging.

The first paper was published by Brain Imaging and Behavior with Goldstein as first author, in collaboration with Hui Mao, PhD, associate professor of radiology, and ADRC colleagues.

It examines diffusion tensor imaging as a way to probe the integrity of the brain’s white matter, and compares it with tests of memory and behavior traditionally used to diagnose MCI and Alzheimer’s.

White matter appears white because of the density of axons, the signal-carrying cables allowing communication between different brain regions responsible for complicated tasks such as language and memory.

Diffusion tensor imaging allows researchers to see white matter by gauging the ability of water to diffuse in different directions, because a bundle of axons tends to restrict the movement of water in the brain.

Goldstein and her colleagues found that patients diagnosed with “amnestic” MCI showed greater loss of white matter integrity in a certain part of the brain — the medial temporal lobe – than cognitively normal controls of similar age. This loss of white matter was linked with poor recall of words and stories.

The second paper, with Liya Wang, PhD, a senior research associate in Mao’s laboratory as first author, was published by the American Journal of Neuroradiology in April. Here the authors try combining probing white matter integrity with a MRI measure of whether the brain has shrunk as a result of disease.

Combining the two methods improves the accuracy of MCI diagnosis with respect to either alone, the authors found.

Mao notes that Emory has been participating in a multi-center study called ADNI (Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative). Diffusion tensor imaging is a relatively new technique and could add information to future large-scale Alzheimer’s imaging studies, he says.

The Dana Foundation’s BrainWorks newsletter had an article recently on Alzheimer’s and brain imaging.

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